Will Dems Risk What It Takes To Stop Roy Moore In Alabama? [View all]
By CAMERON JOSEPH Published SEPTEMBER 29, 2017 6:00 AM
National Democrats are seriously weighing whether to go big to try to keep controversial former Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice Roy Moore (R) out of the Senate.
Following Moore’s solid primary victory over appointed Sen. Luther Strange (R-AL), Democrats are doing the research to see if there’s a real path for former U.S. Attorney Doug Jones (D) over his divisive foe. And while they’re not ready to commit major resources to a state as crimson red as Alabama at this point, Senate Democrats are already making initial moves to support Jones with individual donations while voicing cautious optimism about having a shot at their first Senate victory in the state in nearly three decades.
“Alabama’s obviously tough territory but this is a special situation,” Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee Chairman Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) told TPM on Thursday. “We believe Alabamans will want someone who they will be proud of, someone with character and integrity, and that’s Doug Jones. That is not Roy Moore.”
Democrats are clear-eyed that Moore remains the heavy favorite, and are wary about raising expectations. But they think there may be a path for Jones, who’s best known in the state for successfully prosecuting the Ku Klux Klan members who bombed a black Birmingham church in 1963 and killed four little girls, against Moore, whose decades-long religious crusade against gay rights and secularism has alienated many business-oriented Republicans in the state. While no Democrat has won a statewide race in Alabama for nearly a decade, they point out that Moore won just 51 percent of the vote in his 2012 state Supreme Court win.
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http://talkingpointsmemo.com/dc/national-democrats-seriously-weigh-taking-on-roy-moore-in-alabama
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